Forrest Dunn

1928 - 2016

George Forrest Dunn, Jr.

Services celebrating the life of The Honorable Forrest Dunn will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at Rose-Neath Marshall Street Chapel, 1815 Marshall Street, Shreveport, LA with Dr. Rowena White officiating. The family will receive friends from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 18, 2016 at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Forest Park Cemetery, St. Vincent Avenue, Shreveport, LA.

Former State Representative Forrest Dunn, Jr., who served 12 years as Director of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, died October 15, 2016 in Bossier City, LA after a sudden illness.

Forrest was preceded in death by his wife, Donna Young Dunn, his parents, George Forrest Dunn, Sr. and Gladys Malone Dunn, and son, James Forrest "Jimmy" Dunn. He is survived by two children, Linda Dunn Turner and husband, Danny Bob and Robby Jack Dunn and wife, Nancy Marabella; six grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren; daughter-in-law, Cindy Dunn McCloud, mother of his children, Rachel Dunn Williamson and her husband, Don; and special friend, Sylvia Adams.

He was born in Plain Dealing, LA September 6, 1928. At the age of 15, he joined the United States Navy and served aboard the USS Richmond. Back home he acquired his GED and worked for Haverty's Furniture Store until he opened Dunn Furniture in 1955 where it was a successful business for over in 30 years.

Forrest was well known in Louisiana as the museum director, a job he took in 1998; he was proud of his accomplishments there. He was especially pleased with work which launched the museum's affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution - the only Louisiana public museum with that distinction.

He contributed greatly and in many ways to his community. Although he served in numerous capacities, including three terms as State Representative, he felt his greatest achievement was co-founding H.A.P. House for the severely handicapped, which is housed at Barksdale Air Force Base. He was also elected to the Caddo Parish School Board, serving with distinction during the early and contentious years of court-ordered integration. He served as President of Holiday in Dixie and the Louisiana State Fair Executive Committee and was Chairman of the Ambassador's Club. He was Campaign Chairman for United Way, Chairman of The Arc and Community Organization for Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Dunn was a member of the Louisiana State Fair Board Executive Committee and served on the executive board for Shreveport Parks and Recreation Council and the Shreveport Transit and Study Committee.

He was also a delegate to the White House Conference on the Handicapped and on the Governor's Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped. He was a member of the Shreveport Housing Authority.

In 2002 he was selected by The Times as a Leader of the New Century and in 2010 received the Legend Award from the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau. He was a recipient of a Special Humanitarian Award for Community Council was inducted into the Bossier High School Hall of Fame.

Mr. Dunn has also been honored by Norwela Council of Boy Scouts of America with a "This is Your Life" tribute. He was a member of the Downtown Rotary Club and St. Mark's.

Honoring Forest as pallbearers will be Sean Dunn, Robert Hal Gatti, lll, Hayden Gatti, Robert Hal Gatti, Jr., Autry Lowry, Jr., Woody Schick, and Jay Turner. Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Dr. Leon Bain, Jerry Boughton, Eugene Bryson, Joe Cooper, Steve Culbertson, Anthony Harris, Ernest Lampkins, Billy Montgomery, Gil Shanley, Mickey Shirley, Wayne Waddell, and Executive Committee of the Louisiana State Fair.

The family suggests memorials may be made to Friends of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, 3015 Greenwood Rd., Shreveport, LA 71103 or Shreveport/ Bossier Rescue Mission, 901 McNeal St., Shreveport, LA 71101, or to the charity of the donor's choice.